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1 President's Proposal for a Federal Railroad System: Is the Plan Constitutional? 1907

handle is hein.beal/ptplflrdsm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 








       The  President's Proposal
                     for
     A  Federal   Railroad System.

     Is  the  Plan   Constitutional?

  To-day I wish to say a word to you about the
first and most important feature of this task, the
control of the common  carriers doing an inter-
state business-a control absolutely vested in the
nation, while in so far as the common carriers also
transport the mails, it is in my opinion probable
that whether their business is or is not interstate,
it is to the same extent subject to Federal control
under that clause of the Constitution granting to
the National Government power to establish post
roads, and therefore by  necessary implication
power to take all action necessary in order to keep
them at the highest point of efficiency.
  There  must be vested in the Federal Govern-
ment a full power of supervision and control over
the railways doing interstate business. It must
possess the power  to exercise supervision over
the future issuance of stocks and bonds, either
through a national incorporation (which I should
prefer) or in some similar fashion. The Federal
Government  will thus be able to prevent all over-
capitalization in the future; to prevent any man
hereafter from plundering others by loading rail-
way  properties with obligations and pocketing
the money  instead of spending it in  improve-
ments.    (President     Roosevelt's     In-
dianapolis speech.)

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